EP 92 Sharks and Demons

James and Big Still from the Streets. Hello, where you act? This is o G Gangster Granny and Against the Chronicles podcast is back in effect. Thank you for tuning into another episode of Against the Chronicles podcast. Make sure you download I Heard That and subscribe to the gainst the Chronicles for my Apple users, hit that Purple Mike when your front screens described to Against the Chronicles and leave a five star rateing in comment. And we have a

very very special guest in the house and night. We have a man with thirty plus years in the music and management business and he's touched on something everybody on the West Coast He's a pivotal figure on the West Coast. Um the former co owner of Shepherd Lane Records, UM that brought us such people as DJ Quick, Sugar Free, the late Great Marsburg managed Battle Kat. Let's introduce some stand Shepard. How you doing. That's a blest, It's a

pleasure to be here, young brother. Thank you for having me. We don't have to have you because this is your first interview ever. This is the first interview I've done in forty years. I have never done an interview before before a variety of reasons, and one of the main the main reason was because when I was working with Shepherd Lane and we had all the success that we had,

I was threatened by kidnappings every every week. Not only was I threatened by kidnappings, we had eighteen murders, including my closest friend, events who traveled with me for many years from Compton, and I love that man, and so many people that I knew over a death row and the Shepherd Lane are now dead. And when I look back, I think of the violence that occurred all across Compton

and it's sickening. And right now it's still the same thing I was told by my contacts, and Compton don't even come there now, don't even tell people to come there because there's a violent conflict going on across the city. Yes, and so I'm tapped in from Kelly Park on down the looters part. So there's nobody I don't know them. And if I don't know you as a shop caller, the people next to me know you, and I can at least talk to you. So in Los Angeles people

must understand. Across the world, there's something different about Compton. Compton, as explained to me, is an entity into itself, and either even in the prison system, Compton both Blood excuse me, both powerus and crypts bond together to protect one another. And they're not gonna let outsiders get anybody from Compton. They'll go when it's in prison, they'll go back and deal with it later. But people from Compton have a way of sticking together even in the prison system. That's

different from anywhere iness world. And believe me, I've been involved in a lot of situations where I can compare it to things. Stand when you say, when you said business, you mean visits with Kenny. Yes, oh man, that was my rider. Die right there now, I know. That's what I'm saying. Vince was the first. Vincent was the first person who came to me in a sit down meeting and says, stand, we need you, we want you to

help with DJ Quick. Quick was in a difficult situation your Profile records at the time, and I intervened and I got Profiled to back off some of the demands that they were making for Quick because one of my strong points is I am attorney based. And when I say attorney based, yeah, there's nothing that goes on in the music industry without the attorneys doing it. So I don't care if you're a president, I don't care what you do of your company. Unless the attorneys say it's

a done deal, it's not. So therefore, I'm saying that to say I know just about everything that's going on with everybody's business because I'm that connected. And when I went to work with Shephard Lane and doing what I was doing, Vincent was a person with with tone that traveled me all the time. And all of the people that death Row from rock Chisholm down to um Um

which is the name of heron all these guys. I used to go there, all of the time because you know why, James, You know why because at that time Capitol Records was trying to buy death Row. Nobody knew it. So Capitol Records gave me a deal financed my label. Nor did I find out what they were doing until after the deal was over. They gave me a label deal because they knew of my connection to leave Forward and to Chill Nate. That's with me where and not when I was dealing with him. Now I was dealing

directly with the chairman and the president. His name was Gary Gersh and they called me behind the scenes to take the president of Capital Records back and forth to meet Chill to negotiate the deal. That went on for about two months. We thought we had the deal done, but then Mr Bronfman from m c A, the owner of Seagram's, flew in on a late night flight and closed the deal. So I was able to see everything up close and everybody up close, and so everybody at

death Row I knew very well. And because lee Ford has so much cloud, it was kind of easy to me. He introduced me Norman and eight Lee Ford introduced me to James. Mhmm. Now I managed James, so it's a situation where I just want to do whatever I can do to help, as I said before, but I also know how thirty this businesses, and I know how to

clean stuff up, right because I'm attorney based exactly. And with that being said, Stan, you're the clean up man, right, which is initially why you were bought into this situation to help broken that deal between Capital and There for a record, right, Yes, they the president of Capital and the chairman of Capital could get Jimmy Ivan to the table, who was the owner of Interscope who was distributing death row at the time, but they couldn't get shipped to

the table. So it was a deal that was going nowhere. So they offered us a percentage of whatever if the deal went down. They paid us some money to go back and forth. But it didn't work out. And the cold blood thing about it, let me tell you how evil it is is that now. Remember they hired me, told me all this good stuff, oh standard this, and you're that. When the deal did not go through for Capital, I went up to talk to them to say, hey, you know, I'm sorry it didn't work out. They banned

me from the building. They used to do that a lot back in the days, did you hear me? They and me from the building because I had quote unquote gang connections, but the same gang connections that I had brought me to you to give me a multi whatever

deal for my first label. And understand something. My label was called g Vine Entertainment and it was the first hardcore rap music label and the history of Capitol Records and it's and I did the deal with DJ Battlecat, and as soon as the deal with SUG fell through, they banned me from the building and said I was a threat because I had access to SUG. My friend

was Harry Oh. For twenty seven years, I was involved with people from the streets that had clout and they said, oh, he's too dangerous to be up in here, because if anything goes wrong, there's a problem. No, the reason they didn't want me up in their James eight and norm is because I know how they run their games. I know what they do, I know how they cheat and steal. So when Stan comes in the room, uh uh, we can't run these games on this fool right now. And

they don't want to see me. But guess what, I'm quiet. I'm quiet in the background, and people call me. Even from the major labels, they stand, we're dealing with so and so. We're dealing with so and so. Are they cool? This is a dirty business. It's a dirty business. And I don't trust anyone in this business because they will change. They will change on you. And in Los Angeles, if you're not connected to some pie rows or some crips or some or some bloods, you ain't got no cloud.

You got nothing. And the A and R directors don't want to deal with you. First thing they asked you, who are you connected with? Who can you hook me up with? Norm? You know what I'm talking about. They do it to you all the time. Yeah, I know exactly what you're talking about. Because when I was A and R over at Mind of music, you know, when I'm signing an artist, that's when I realized. I thought I had some power, but I had a pin with no incumit. You had some situations to where you saved

the well known singer's life. What happened was that I was coming from a studio recording session and I was coming down the street in Los Angeles. It's called Beverly Boulevard. There was a recording studio over there called Lions Share at that time, and it was a very popular place for recording artists. Well, I'm coming from a meeting and it was the past twelve midnight and in the middle of the road I see this man laying out and he's waving his arm. So, being paranoid like I always am,

I thought it was a set up. So I stopped and I looked, and I said, man, let me go help this man. And when I got closer, I saw blood spurting out of different locations on his body, and I was actually dropped, uh dodging blood spurts. And when I got to him, I saw it was Melvin Franklin with The Temptations of Bass singer, and he had been shot multiple times. He had been robbed coming out the studio and the guy shot him twice and then the

third time he shot him. The only reason he let him live is because Melvin yelled out, I'm Melvin Franklin from the Temptations, Please don't kill me. Well, the guy relented, got in Melvin's car, drove off around the corner. There was very little gas in the car, and he pulled up to the gas tank, filled the gas tank up and killed the attendant and drove off. This was a pardon me, This wasn't in the movement. No, there was something they you know, it was something nobody wanted to

go into. Was very violent. And what happened at that point I took off I had. I was twenty six at the time. I was just out the military, and I knew how to stop bleeding. So I took off my shoes and tied my socks around the wounds to stop the flow of the blood, and I loaded him into my car and I took him to the hospital. And they said if he didn't get there ten minutes early, he would have bled to death. Now here's the here's

the clincher to this. One and a half years later, I was hired by Motown Records to produce the Temptations. I walked into the studio. I hadn't seen Melvin since he was shot and Motown filmed it, and he turned around and he saw me, says, wait a minute, you're the person to save my life and now producing a record. And the record I produced on them was called Special and it turned out to be their album title, and it turned out to be a massive hit single for them.

So I'm very proud about that. You stand you. You're a little smoothie rousing up. Well, you know what. I had a great career, James. I had a great career at Motown. I produced six top ten records and one number one record. I produced the Temptations. I produced a Need to Point and Point of Sisters. I produced Gerald Dalston, who was the lead singer to Manhattan's you Know, Kissing Kiss and Say Goodbye and Shining Star. I did all those and I worked in the A and R and

music production for many years. And a side note, I had an R and B group called By All Means and I signed them. It was my first deal ever. It was in eighties seven, and I signed him to Island Records and we did a remake of the Marvin Gay song called Let's Get It On and went to number three in the country, and it solidified my career.

And that's when I went to Motown. Mr Gordy and Gerald Busby offered me a beautiful deal to come there, and I stayed at Motown for five years until I joined Jermaine Jackson because the Jackson family asked me to come on and work with them, and I did that. For two years. After that, I was introduced to a young man named harry O and DJ Battlecat. Now, how do you feel about harry O? Me at home? I talked.

I communicated with harry O last night via text. I'm not bothering him because he's adjusting to everything in his life. And Uh, I have talked to I called it Michael. I have talked to Michael every year for twenty seven years. I'm very emotional when I talk about that man. Okay, So, I mean he's he's my partner man. So he started he started with me with battle Cat. Understand something when I tell you this. We've never met in person, me and Harriet. It's all been since he's been incarcerated. He

trusts me. I trust him, and that's where we are today. It's a bond and anything he asks of me is going to be done to the best of my ability. It's as simple as that. I love that man. They don't. They don't find too many people in this world that you can call a friend. Since I've known you, That's how I've been feeling since they won and I met you over there at the house in Beverly Hills. Uh. Just good people. Staying. Thank you, James, you go, thank you.

I really appreciate that I misunderstood just because I work with gang members and just because I work with people from the streets. Don't don't tell me I can't come into your offices. Don't tell me you don't want to call me back because you man if something go wrong. Let me tell you something, all of you, all of you, and that is the most evil backstabbing people in business work at the major labels, and if you don't check them, they'll check you. I am not a person that turns

to the other cheek. You slap me, I'm gonna try to slap you back, James. Let me tell you something, all of you guys, I come from seven in nine Street on the South side of Chicago, gang banging up until I was twenty six. I had twenty two fights and lost all twenty two. I became a virtual psychotic person, and any time you even look like you were going

to threaten me, it brought back memories. And I'm quite sure if anybody has been gang banging for any amount of time, if anybody looks like they're gonna do something, if you've been harmed before, it's a defensive mechanism, right, and that's what it is for me. And sometimes even at my old age, right now, I still never left seventy nine Street. It's still in my soul because whatever you experience growing up, it stays with you. I was one of the first, and I want you to hear this.

I one of four of the first gangster disciples on Sunday Night Street. And my history is there was I tough. No, I was a scared fifteen year old that wanted to be accepted and I was beating up daily and I got tired of getting beaten up, so I said, let me join the g DS. You get some protection. It wasn't because I was a maniact wanted to do some wrong. No, I was scared. And if anybody has been beaten up real bad, you don't want to see that again. You

don't want to experience that again. And it made me a different type of person, getting my butt whip twenty two times and never winning. So when I came to Compton and I started working with Shuk, I started working with everybody involved with my label, with Shepherd Lane Man. By the time people got to me, I was looking at them with horns in their head. I said, if anybody came towards me with anything, they got trouble because I'm panic stricken. I've seen too much death in Compting,

eight of my friends dead. So what you said, how would you say, you know, the transition of coming from the time when you first started in business, and you're like you said, we've all seen our our scales of violence or perhaps, but you don't venture into the rapt game and come into Compton, which you say that was a whole different story altogether. Let me say this. I've been to the Marsha projects in New York. I've been on Sevenday Night Street, I've been I drive past Old

Block every day here in Chicago. I've dealt with every aspect. My son is with the role of sixties. So we got a situation where I can look back and I can see how vicious it became. Compton is totally different from Watts, Compton is totally different from South Central, and Compton doesn't usually like to associate with outsiders. It just doesn't happen. And I know if there's twenty seven hoods from through town, all down, all the way down, I know these guys. I know the South Side people, and

it's totally different. These people are Compton is more meticulous. If Compton wants to hit you, there's already been a plan laid out. It ain't and these people know, they know what they're doing. I saved another man's life from New York. You know what his name is. He's never heard what I'm getting ready to say. It's gonna shock him for you. Well, no producer for Public Enemy, for the group Public Enemy, Yes, yes you are. His name is Hank Shockley. He let me tell you what happened,

and I'll be bullet point you. There was a young group from Watts, young man from Watts that I was represented name Filthy Frank. I had a deal at the time for Filthy Frank with a record company who was run by a man by the name of Al Bell. He used to have this big hit record called Whooped There it is okay, it's called Bellmark Records. Well, he wanted to get into the rap game, and I took him the Filthy Frank project. Oh I love it. Stand Here's a hundred and seventy five dollar deal at that time.

That's a lot of money for an unproven artist. So he says, here's uh, prepare the paperwork. I called my artists, so this is what we got. He said, oh man, that's great. So then the following day, I have a meeting at m c A with the head of A and R. Her name was Madeleine and at that time Madeleine's boss was Hank Shockly, okay, well, Madeleine heard what she said, Stan, what are you working on? And I said, I'm working on this project for from an act out of what can I hear it? I said, yeah, you

can hear it? I played it for She went crazy. She said, Stan, what what deal have you signed? I said, I haven't signed anything yet. I said, I have an offer, but I haven't signed a deal. She says, I'll beat it by a hundred thousands. Whatever you've got. I said, you give me two seventy five because that's what I got. I got one seventy five. She said yes. I said, okay, I called my artist. Let's roll. He went from one seventy five to seventy five and twenty four hours, So

everybody's happy, right, Okay. So now fast forward. She says she's going to get the paperwork together for two weeks past three weeks past, no paperwork. I called up. I said, what what's going on? Where's the paperwork? I don't know, I don't know what's happening. I'm checking with my boss in New York and I'm not getting a response on this. I said, whoa. Now, remember this is this is this

is at the height of the East Coast West Coast drama. Okay, Well, at that time, DJ Quick, who I was managing, did a drop, and the drop for Power one O six radio station said quote, I am no longer a supporter of East Coast rap. That was the drop. Well, New York heard of that. The executives in New York said, do not deal withstand he represents gangs on the West Coast, and DJ quit Mossburg Sugar Free. He's too involved with

So they never called me back. After two months, I had to tell the artist, guess what your two seventy five went down to drive? All right, fast forward, we're having and you I don't know if you guys remember this place it was. It was on nor It was norm Nixon's place with his wife. It was called George's and it was on uh it was in Hollywood. Well, at that particular night, that we went. There was nine of us and I had four saman bodyguards. None of

them were under I think three and fifty pounds. And as we went into this restaurant for this joyous occasion, Hanks Shockley walks in. I said, oh, this is great. I get to talk to him in person, because I haven't caught haven't called him in two months to talk about what happened with the deal. Well, he was with two people and I walked up to him at the bar and I said, oh, Hank man, I'm so glad

to see you. And as soon as I started to talk to him, he had two young men with him who came in front of him and pointed at me and said, get away. We don't want to talk to you about this s H I t tonight. Well, unfortunately they didn't know that all of our people were there, and they saw him point and get aggressive. Lo and behold, now I have eight people coming to do damage to these three people from New York. I asked them to stop, and I escorted Hank Shockly and his two men to

their car and I got him out of there. What I didn't know was that they were followed when they left and I get a call about thirty minutes later, and they said, Stan, when we got to Homie pulling in to the hotel, we can get him for you right now and we'll get the other two. I panned, I said, please, I begged, and James knows the hitters that I was with in these James knows these are people that do not play. They were from Fruittown. They

were from Looters and Crypts organization. I think it's called Cross Atlantic or Atlantic Drive or something. Okay, well, these were the people. These were huge men. And I begged them to let him go, and they did. And I'm gonna tell Hank Shocking right here, right now, a direct statement to you. You're very lucky man. You're very lucky man. And that's all I'll say. And I said that to say,

treat everyone in this music business with respect. You don't know who they're connected to, you don't know what favors are owed. So stop thinking you're tough. The most untoughed people can have you clipped immediately. That's why I don't disrespect anyone. And I'm telling you something again. This is directed to you and and our directors. Stop lying. Two people from the streets telling them you can do this,

and you'll do that when you know you're lying. And then and you want to know why people are running up in your offices and catching you and beating the dog crap out of you when they do see you, because your liars, your liars. Everyone up here has been that's on this call has been lied to in this business. I know eights men lied to. Definitely. I don't even I don't even know the interestinges of your career, and I know you've been lied to. It's just when you

get successful, the sharks come out and they're hungry. But see I'm a barracuda and I know how to fight a shark and they know that. So just to understand something, I'm speaking to the independent artist. Know what you're doing now, how are you doing it? And who are you missing with? Because your money will go out there window promoting whatever you're doing. We call it having a hit and going broke. It's just it's just a different world. And when I

say we, I'm talking about music executives. We don't care about you. Did you hear me? You? As rap artists are interchangeable parts. You're gonna come You're gonna go. And these executives hate you, and you know why because you make more money than them and they have to promote you. I'm telling you, I work on the inside, you see the outside. I know when your record is being laid. I know when you're being ripped off. I know when

it's legitimate what they're doing for you. So please understand something. Don't ever think as an artist you have any clout. You have none. They will do something wrong and they'll do what they did did g J. Quick? You know what they did to quit? You know what suspension is? A you know what suspension is. I'll tell you. I'll tell you what suspension is. What they did did J. Quick? They said, we're not gonna pay you, We're not gonna

promote you until you give us what we want. And guess what suspension does when they put you on suspension. If they put you on suspension on January and they put and they keep you in suspension, you don't get out of that suspension until you give them what they want, and then your contract starts. Over the time that we're on suspension is not lifted. Now you go back to the start when I came into Quick's life, he was unsuspension.

I had to work for six months convincing people I wasn't Shug Night's cousin because when I called up there and we ain't talking to you, stay and we know you should Knights cousin. I went through six months of this and this is when he was on a Profiles right. Yes, I had to. I had to negotiate a deal for DJ Quick where he would do ten songs and give Profile ten songs and then they would let him out the contract when he did the ten songs. The first of thee was for Shock I was thinking was called

straight Plan. Then Profile was able to sell their company, but they couldn't sell their company until DJ Quick gave them the album. So when Quick gave him the album, they stole their company to Arista, Arista, Arista, whatever you want to Davis. Clive Davis calls me, stand, I need to have a sit down. He flew out with his head of an R. He said, we're gonna buy Profile. Is DJ Quick or easy person to work with because we want to do a documentary blah blah blah. I said,

he's a genius and he's a great person. I said, so forget what you think you heard they did the deal with us and I brought second to none over to Aristom. That worked perfectly until the war started between Puffy and everybody. And it got even deeper because the night Biggie was killed coming we were coming from the Vibe party in Los Angeles, and guess who was standing next to Biggie when we were waiting for our cars coming out the event, DJ Quick and I Biggie standing

next to Quick. I'm next to Quick on the other side, Biggie and Quick not at each other, respectfully. He pulled off and then the rest happened. After that, myself and DJ Quick we're called into the l A. Sheriff's Department and they old me point blank, stand, I know you and your Shepherd land Crew and DJ Quick we're involved in this murder some way, shape or form, and we're gonna hound you until we get the facts. Obviously, DJ

Quick didn't do anything. It's just a whole mess. So understand when I'm talking to you about issues back then, it's a whole different situation that it is now. Everybody on this panel knows that it was total violence. Crips weren't taking it for par Rouse and pirous weren't taking it for crips. Yeah, and and that was a very volatile time right there, like you said, and um, everybody in the streets knew what was going on, so we

don't have to even you know, go into that. But they were looking to blame anyone if they can't except the person that did it, because there was a lot of stuff going on during that time. Well, if you remember, Quick had a beef with eight, then he had beefs with other people. Eight people weren't playing, the people on Quickside weren't playing, So you got a volatile situation, man, that anything could have happened. And I remember there was another large faction out of l A that was after Quick,

So there was nothing but drama. I would get a call every night, man, somebody has arrested, somebody got beat, somebody got killed. I got to the point where I didn't want to look at my phone because it's that bad, exactly. And you understanding, I want to ask you about that now that we're don Quick all on quicken those guys, that ship of Lane crew, I want to ask you what a few stre at first, we're going to one

sugar Free. How did you in Tone find him. Tone Tone had his relationship with sugar Free, and he said, man, we got something especial. So now remember you must follow me when I say this. When I came into the rap game, I knew nothing about rap. I just knew what I liked, but I didn't know what was good, bad, whatever the case may be. Okay, so now here comes sugar Free. Tone played me sugar Free. I said, Wow, he's going against the flow of the pocket of the song.

I said, it's and it's comical, it's it's funny. He said, that's what's gonna be different. I said, okay, Well, it's my job at that point to convince the industry that this is something different than what you're used to hearing on West Coast rap. Well, guess what. This is a more behind the scenes information. I was managing a young man by the name of Damian Young. He was the program director of Power one oh six and guess what, he was also the program directive High Nineties in New York.

But I didn't want anybody to know that we were working together because it's a situation where hold off for one second. It's a situation where, um, it's just when you go to a radio station and you play something different. I was like wow. I went to Power and Damien. I took the Damien. He said, Stan, I can't play this. Man, you're asking me to play some stuff that's going against the grain. I said, man, this is some new stuff. Damn you no, bro, I can't play it. I said,

all right, you're gonna be mistaken. I'm gonna break this record. So there was another station at the time called three to Be. I went over there, and the program directed at the time his name was Ta Walla Sharp and sugar Free should always think to Walla Sharp, because when I played to Walla Sharp the sugar Free record, it was called if you stay ready, you don't have to get ready. He heard it up to the first hook and he said, stand you gotta smash, and you gotta

smash artist. Let me break it for you. I said, be my guests, my young brother, do what you gotta do. He broke it in l A and then I broke it all over the West Coast with my connections with my people. The rest was history. That's how we broke sugar Free, and everybody wanted to sugar Free on their project, and then nobody want to embrace him. When he first started saying that to say, you don't know what's gonna happen. In music, you have no idea, and what we say

until it crosses the counter. In sales, you're just guessing, simple as that exactly. I want to go back to one of my personal friends. Man, he always gonna be Big John to me. Mass Burg lit Great mars Burg. Who um that young man was brought to me by Lee Forward. He says, stay in kind of emotion about this too. He said, stand as a young man named Big John, and he said you gotta hear him. I took it to tone. He said, oh man, this is he Okay fast Forward. I called quit. I said, quick,

my bring something to you. And I think it's gonna be complete fire. And I think he's gonna want to be involved with this long story short. I went over there quick, hurt. He says, oh my god, let's go. He started working with Marsburg. Immediately. This continued, and then Massburg was so was blowing up so well. R Kelly called, he wanted to do something at that time. We let him do a cut with him, snoop, and the list goes on. I was in the student with him and Quick.

Uh we worked on something at one point. So yeah, Mark was around. He definitely was getting around. Uh, he was. He was plussed. He was a huge individual and you know he was parrou and just one of the just one of the greatest guys I've ever met. And you gotta understand some Let let's explain something. Tell me if this is wrong, because I need some input on this. When I first started working with artists, the two producers, there was only three producers who were super producers as

a dre Quick and battle Cat. Well, I managed Quick and battle Cat. So therefore when I came on, I demand because Quick and battle Cat take weeks to do a particular record. It could be one single, it could be one single, and Quick and battle Cat we're not charging their friends who were trying to get music from And when I came on board, I said, oh my god, you guys are wasting three of your year round income doing stuff for people who are never going to return

you any money. They're only promise to Quick and Battlecat. Was that quote, When we get a major label deal, we'll hook you up. That's great too, But at the same time, my focus is making sure that they're straight. So what I did, I said, anybody, I set a standard. Anybody who wanted production from DJ Quick on my label, they had to share publishing for the first record. After that they got all their publishing because now I gotta take both of my platinum producers off the market for

three months and they can't make no money. So what we did we offered any artist that was signed to us, you gotta split on the first We're gonna establish your career, not even charge you for that. And as you will know, a anybody that is to recording artists norm you notice everybody knows this. They'll charge you for anything and everything. Definitely anything and everything I got charged for. I got charged for conversations. Did you get let me ask you something.

Did you get thirty seven dollars and fifty cents bills from your attorney? Because I got three pages of thirty seven dollars and fifty cent bills? And guess what those are? Four calls that were made on your behalf that weren't answered. Yeah, it's still thirty seven fifty. I had a fifteen thousand dollar phone bill thirty seven fifties. I said, well, what did you do? No? Well we try, Oh the stamps.

They charge you for meiling. They charge you for everything. Man, I got charged back for everything and being a young artist not really knowing this ship. Because not to say all attorneys are bad, but you know, you have them opportunities where if you don't know too much, then record labels ain't gonna give you a lot. So they know ship. I didn't know. They were charging me back for every fucking thing, like they fucking sat on the phone with my attorney for an hour and discussed paperwork. I got

charged a thousand dollars for that ship. I didn't even know that ship. You got right, everything, any and every and any little thing they fly, you feed, you, give you some lunch at the fucking record label. They're charging you for that ship. Like everything they go, you go out for. You go out to dinner and you're thinking, like, yah, they're treating your ass. Oh dinner and motherfuckers was eating

that Mr Childs And it's a man. They ste you got a three thousand dollar bill they're charging you for they take they it all back to you. Let alone. You ain't getting no motherfucking royalties to begin with, because record labels weren't giving up Ship. And that's what I always always confused me, is like, goddamn, I'm producing the song, I'm writing the song, I'm fucking the artist, but y'all only giving me fucking a couple of cents and y'all taking your money just for putting my ship in the

record stores. And Ship is crazy, it's an amazing thing. And I'll just share another story with you. Norman and James. You gotta hear this one. Their battle Cat to the platinum album on the east Side. Mm hmm. Nobody got their money properly. Guess why a TV T man they weren't fucking wouldn't know. I said, now, wait a minute, check this out. James, check this out, you guys. Battle Cat calls me. He said, stand man, we got to uh the East Side has blown up everywhere. Man ain't

sent and it's our money. I said, okay, man, He said, can you help me with this situation? I said, let me look into it. It. Just remember I tell you I'm attorney based. So I called. I called the attorney. I called the attorney and that represented t VT and he said, stand you're my buddy. I know there's a lot of money. Old you guys, you're not getting a penny, so stop calling me. I'm doing you a favor. Ain't

nothing going down, bro. We're filing for bankruptcy. So if you want to make some money from your clients, now listen to this. If you want to make some money from your clients, I work with you. I'll say. You trying to get the money, but ain't nothing coming. So if you want to make a couple of thousand doing what you're doing, this, that's cool. I looked at the phone. I said, Oh, the evilness is your spreading everywhere. Nobody

you can trust anywhere, I said. I called Battlecat. I said, man, you know what that hundred thousand whatever you think you're getting, it ain't coming, bro, It ain't coming, so don't look for it. You know how many calls I've had to make like that, the artists to think they have a royalty check coming, and then when they get the paperwork, like you said, they say ship, excuse me, oh stop, what is this? And they never recovered. Then what happens is the label knows you're in debt, they offer you

another contract exactly. That's it right there. You become what's known as an advanced baby, Um, I'll tell you. And the publishing side of the business is the most valuable side. And I've seen guys turn over the stuff in perpetuity for twenty five dollars for thirty thousand dollars because it's usually all in cash. And another trick that they do too is I saw my publishing company do this. They have put the check on the third or fourth page of the contract, you know, with a paper clip in there,

so you know. You get a young dude and in his nineteen twenty years so he's looking at it. He see that check for twenty five thousand dollars. Oh, man, we ain't gotta go through all this, I trust y'all. He signed the ship because he wants that check now, John round six months later, after you don't want to bought a car, you don't bought some clothes and change, that money is gone. How about the motherfucker just steal

your publishers straight up. My first contract when I first started, I signed a contract with unknown with Techno Hop Records, okay, and our first deal was stu Orpheus Capital Okay. Charles Huggins had a label called Orpheis. They had a distribution deal with capital. Okay, me as a young motherfucker coming from the hoods and content, I just wanted to wrap I ain't no ship about contracts and publishing another that so unknown knowing signed the motherfucker to you, then you

go get the deal with the label. So that's what we basically did. I signed a deal with a knowns company called Big Beat Records. Okay, we'll be be Productions. That's what happened. That's where Mike Karen came from. Okay, And what he did is after I signed the recording contract, he stapled a publishing contract on the back of it and added it as an exhibit. Oh look, he just us who we talked about up, took my PI. Yeah

I know, No, I ain't no ship. So all the records, my first CMW records, all that ship, it never had my names on it because it was his publishing company, because he just and not until I met John Smith, which was I able to go back because he had got an eighty thousand dollar publican deal through m c A and the Nigga gave me twenty five hundred dollars. I wrote everything, I've written, every fucking song I've ever done.

I've never had a ghost writer or never. I've always written all my music, but for the first three albums of my career, I received no publishing because he took it off, just just took it. My goodness. I went through Dude Something from gang Banging and thought that rap was my way out of the hood. You get me, so don't. I didn't know ship. I just wanted to rap. You get me, fucking rapp is gonna take me from here. I was seventeen years old, and the motherfucker knew that.

So he just took my ship like fuck it. So that's the nature of the beasts of motherfucker's like that that you had to deal with. And I didn't learn to three albums later that I was supposed to be getting paid for all the songs that I had broken. It's it's it's amazing. James, you've never been on the artist side of things, but I know you've been around because every everything that you've been around, the Norm, your history.

Norm has a deep history in everything. But I shared something with Norm the other day that I have to share with you eight and James about what eight just said. Let me tell you how they get you. Just say, James, signs of contract for three hundred thousand as an artist, right, Okay, they generate they being let's just say it's universe. They generate the contract to the management of the artist. Right. The artist usually has only had one meeting, if anything,

with the label to say hello, how you doing? And then they're ushered out because the manager and the attorneys don't want you involved as the artist. Okay, So now here we go. Here comes the contract, which is about fifty to six pages, all right, usually okay, so now they give you three contracts. Now you've got designed multiple signatures right a beginning artists, and they they just signed it. They signed it. So what what the record company does?

They send you a legitimate contract, right, But when it gets to the manager and the attorney, if those two are in cahoots what I've seen done numerous times. Please listen, they take the contract from the major label, they photo copy the top, and they put carbon copies of papers to blank out the details of the original contract. So now you only have a heading of a contract. And now they feel lend what they want? Do you feel me? Okay?

So now your manager and the attorney that's working with the manager tells you, the artist, you've got two hundred thousand coming, when in essence you had three hundred. So what happens now you're signing? They got the original contract, that's the good contract from Universal, but it's buried in the signing. So now the artist signs everything. They turned in the original contract to the record company, they send out the three hundred thousand, but the management and the

lawyer only send you two hundred. So everybody made a hundred thousand off of you, and you didn't even know what you had. And tell me an artist that knows who's in his contract, I'll wait and up until um, I think it was five years ago. That's why I started becoming commonplace for the law that the artists had and the artist everybody's contract had to be the same. If you went back and there the audit and if it was anything else, if it was anything like weird

in that contract, that wasn't the same thing. As the artists said, the contract is automatically avoided, and he was free to go. And you're pretty much gonna open yourself up to a lawsuit. Um. And you know, going back to the music business stand, you know you were into the time with black it's a lot better right now

because a lot of more information is out there. But you were in a time man, and where a lot of black artists was really getting screwed over lord have hey, hey, let me ask this why as nobody got hurt behind this ship, you're working with my money? Uh? They know they crooks? Man. That That's when I glad I ain't. That's that's when they started. That's when they started banning us from the labels. That's when they started putting security in the in the lobbies and telling you, like staying,

you can't come up here no more. And because they started knowing when motherfuckers started coming up in their breaking their motherfuck's ship, kicking indoors and threatening the A and rs and people like that, that's when they started banning people like us from getting into the lobbies and ship because they started fearing. Because we started wising up, we started being able to understand what contracts and splits and publishing was and how much royalties we were getting, and

basically it was getting fucked. We're giving you all this material and all this money, you're taking it out selling it for ten dollars and fifty nine cents, making ten twent thirty million, and then you're telling me I'm still in the fucking red. The ship was unbelievable. So that's when they started going, Okay, I need to hire off duty cops and put them in my life because I know when eating them walk up in here, it's gonna be a gang of mess because he just sold two

million records. Million just hit the table. But we've been to tell him he's still in the red for fucking a hundred and something thousand or three hundred thousand, so you ain't getting a roarty check. But I'll tell you another thing too, this funked up about that, James, Like, I'm gonna tell you how the record business go right. Usually when you break it down the laymish terms and artists only getting a dollar a record, right, what is it stands sixty five cents to a dollar record or

some ship like that? Right that I was getting a sixties something cent. I probably was giving about fifty some sense a record. Let me try to get this off real quick. Go ahead, they are taking all when you recoup your money, James, Let's say they gave eight a hundred seventy five thousand, and you figured they're getting anywhere from six fifty to eight dollars a recording in at that time, right, because we've got fiftical releases, you got the final thet tapes and the CDs and ship right.

What it happened is, hey, it is getting recouped off this little fifty cents. They're making that extra six dollars, six fifty cents that don't come for eight. No, you ain't accumulated enough money yet because he's recouping off the fifty cents that he's getting the record. I'm not recouping off the whole record. I'm only recouping off of those fucking eight nine points they're giving me point worth seven cents. So if I'm only getting seven seven points a record,

I'm only making forty nine fucking cents a record. Because you gotta remember again, one point was seven cents, So fucking if they're giving me eight nine points a record, that's my sins. Okay. So I'm getting fifty cents a record, so they charging me that. So when they fucking give me that budget of one seventy five, I gotta pay that back out of that fifty cents I'm getting. Okay, when they don't spend three hundred thousand on my two videos.

I gotta pay that back out of my fifty cents, not out of the ten dollars that record them sold for. I gotta pay all that back out of my fucking fifty cents. Okay. I wrote the record, I produced the record, I wrapped the record. But because there label, they get their own almost nine of my record, they get the owner unless you com me in like smart motherfucker's and was like funk that I'm oning my masters. You get me keep your bread up front or give me fifty

thousand and I'll make sure whatever, whatever. But the key was the on your masters. But if you if you was just the starving nigga, like I said, James, we come from content seventies and eighties babies, you get me. So life in the hood wasn't that lucrative for motherfucker's for a nigga like me who wasn't good in the dope game, a little nigga selling crack or whatever. When I wasn't the nigga, you get me. I don't five six niggas on the block trying to hustle to the

same car. My way of Okay, rat was cracking Todd t and then was cracking one DMC easy. Everybody was cracking. So that's my way. I got tales of the Hood, you give me, But I'm an uneducated nigga. When they come to motherfucking music, you get me. I know, an uneducated motherfucker. When it comes to the business of contracts and all that I've been banging for the last four

or five years, I don't know nothing about it. All I know is I could talk about the streets of Compton, and these motherfucker's want to sell it because from here to Tim Buck, two niggas want to hear about the niggas in the khaki suits and the fucking raiders hats and rags and ship. So that's when the executive come in and go, it's motherfucker, don't know nothing here, motherfucking here going he goes studio time, Here go a chain, he go, A little money for your pocket, and I

spit all in tales about the Hood. We're gonna go sell that ship for in dollars, okay, but you're not knowing only giving you fifty cent a record. All that work you just put in, we're only giving you fifty cents. Okay, so motherfucker self two million records, made million, but they're gonna go. Motherfucker. We sent you on tour, We sent you on promo tour, We bought you lunch, we shot two videos, we put posters up and down Hollywood Boulevard. Motherfucker you was on Yo NTV wraps or this or that,

blah blah blah. We're charging you back for all that ship out of your fifties dads, who ain't you just he just laid it out what goes on every day. And I hope every young artist just listened to every word that you just said, because it is absolutely the gospel in this music business. You are charged if you pass gas in their office, they will get you on anything and everything and then you will clean and if you pass gas, thank you, thank you. So it's a

situation where please you young artists, please understanding. And James, like you said, how come nobody has been hurt. Oh there's been kidnappings, there's been ass whoopings, it just ain't them publicized to the normal people. That's why A and our directors who were getting whipped up on the West coast, they were doing that in New York. But they were tapping your ass on that West coast, and so he part, me, know,

it's amazing, that's great. I didn't start kidding. They need they need some rooms, some shorts out there, make them stop the ship, because that's that's yeah, that's what they did. So what happened was the A and R directors got panicked because you must understand, most of the A and R directors that make the decisions are white guys, so they don't they don't they don't know how to move

like that. So they do one or two things. Norm they hire somebody from the street that's got connections, and then they lay up under them and feel that they're protected, but they don't know. They don't know that these dudes ain't gonna protect them from other people. They're gonna step back when some other people come and let that dog

crap be beat out of them. And staying you've been you've been dealing with the music business from back in the Motown days, from back in the early There is no really difference or difference in what labels have always done them or especially after this black artist. They have been doing this since the beginning time. As far as music and taking control of people's music and paying them pennies on the dollar they hard earned work. So it's

basically it hasn't changed one bit. I mean, it's just like we say with politics sometimes, you know, we get the change of the president's every four years or every eight years or whatever, and people hoping, hope and hope. But just like with the music business, nothing has really changed,

and nothing has really changed for us artists. That's why you got to learn how to take control of your own destiny with the music business, to feel me, that's why you got you got a lot of independency going on now, and dudes, just hey, I'm just I'm I'm gonna put my own record out and I'm just roll of dice there because if I'm gonna get fucked but for millions that I might as well roll a dice

myself and and and take the chance on myself. And that's the truth I would at this particular point in music, Yeah, the only way that majors are gonna make money is through black music. Now. Saying that to say, could you imagine I talked about this with Norm the other day. Could you imagine if Puffy jay Z all the multi millionaire rappers that own these companies. If they said, guess what, We're gonna start our own distribution system. We're gonna promote

our own stuff and we don't need the majors. What do you think the majors would do? I'll tell you what they do. They cry and they've moaned, and they said, what do y'all want? Don't leave? Don't leave. But these executives like that shoe of money. They like that show of money that's coming in. But they don't understand some things. They have no power. Tell me something. They tell me something, James Norm tell me a black man that you know at a major company can sign the check. There is none.

They send out requests for checks and it has to be signed by the upper alan. And who does it go to first? My friends? The attorneys mm hmm. So now you gotta kiss their asses. Now you've gotta kiss the secretary's asses, because guess what. The attorneys don't type up the documents those secretaries do. Now you're waiting for your money. I've been in the office as Grace said, fuck that mother, blah blah blah, he making all this money. Hold up the check for three weeks. You calling as

an artist, where is my money? Where's my And they're back there, we're working on it. We're working on it, and they're throwing you the finger. We'll get back with you. We're working on it. And then they hang up the phone. Bad. Put that ship on the bottom of the pie. That's how it works. And if you think a lot of these rappers are getting signed because they're good, they ain't

getting signed because they're good. They're getting signed because he's here and our directors needs to protection and they don't want to ask whoop. And all they do is huddle with these people from the street. Tell me what I should do, Tell me what I should do? Where where is the power of Atlantic Records? Aren't they the biggest in wrap? Tell me who black over there is calling shots? Oh wait, there's nothing And you would think that, um, how about how about Universal? How about Sony? Tell me

who's stigning and checks this black? No? Wait, nobody. In the sad part of Buttery was a lot of those ass whoopers. That's usually giving out is given to the person that don't have no control over nothing, thank you. They just person at the time, the guy that is actually doing all the stealing if the guy that you've never met, you know, when you went Platinum, the one motherfucker to the show up just to take a picture with your ass and didn't get on, you've never seen

him again? Yeah, I probably met him probably in my whole time being over at thrown me in the epic, I probably met him once. That's what I'm saying. And I'll tell you another thing. I'm sorry, man, it's just I don't mean to laugh. But it's just like AH said, jan Hey, ship ain't changed since when I got into the business. On the on the work side, the executive side, I represented the Jackson's, I represented Jermaine. Me and Jermaine were co presidents of Jackson Communications. So I sit in

the room. Who's bigger than Michael Jackson at that time? Who is bigger than the Jackson's? Nobody? And I'm just saying that. It's not a pad on it. It's like I've been I've been through it all, and I know when you're lying to me. I know when you're bullshit. And if I don't know, I'm gonna pick up the fall. I'm gonna call people who do know, and I'm gonna get back to you and say please miss me because

I don't want to deal with you. You know, it's crazy though staying a lot of people don't believe me when I tell him this. But I've seen stuff firsthand, because you know, I should go over to London like maybe two or three times a month because the company of working floor was over there. And you will wonder how these people are conditioned to be so evil. I've seen the people always working for hold the guy's check up,

knowing and check the money was physically there. The guys about to lose his house because when you sign a publishing deal, they don't matter when asked calf be in my releases the money to them. They're gonna sending it to you when they want me. They gonna make some entries off of it. The guy was about to lose his house and either he had to check coming from maybe forty dollars and he was behind Tim Graham in

his house so he needed the money. They wouldn't send the guy's money, or he wind up killing himself, and the people just said, oh, that's too bad. You know, that's too bad. His family's on the streets of the man can taken them, you know. Murder itself. But a lot of these people are involved very much in the dark arts, you know, wonder for you to become that evil and because I know I couldn't do it, I couldn't sit up and knowing the eight is about to lose his house and I got some money of his,

they can help him. No, you get money and you give people, You give everybody, they they they piece and you move home, you know what I mean. But these people are very much involved in the mysticism, the coke and all kind of stuff, and they've been mentally conditioned not to give a funk about you. You or you. That's just the way it eels. And that's the part people don't talk about. But you've incommendations. Then it's you

know what. Let me say that you guys, And I'm gonna withhold names obviously, But there are some very powerful Italian people in this business that I know very close, very closely. And I had a conversation with these people and I just wanted to ask some basic questions because they've known me for thirty years. They're out of New York, and I said, man, I gotta ask you guys some questions. I said, do you respect black artists. It took a nano second and he said fuck no. I said, why not?

He said, because y'all don't respect yourself, so why should we. We'll fuck you at every chance we can get. I said, manness. And my cousin was with me at the time, right, and so we looked at each other. He said, you know what's wrong with black people? I said, what's done? He said, y'all don't listen to your elders. He says, and now remember he's saying this, and two other gangsters sitting next to they're nodding, and he says, you black folks don't listen to your elders, But every other group

of people on this earth do. From the American Indians when they used to sit around and have meetings around the campfire, they listened to the chief with the most feathers, who have the most experience. Then you go to the Asian population, they pay attention and respect. They're elders, the Hispanics, everybody, everybody but one group, and it's us. We are so weak as far as unity is concerned. I'm talking about, why are we always under somebody's umbrella? Why aren't we

the umbrella? Why are we always the ones that got to go ask somebody for some Could you put my record out? Can you give me an advance? Why don't these black men get together and say, you know what, we're gonna finance new acts. We're not gonna treat them wrong. We're gonna be here to help and do something like that. Instead of always giving your content to people who don't

like you as a race. Understand something, No major record company in the United States wanted anything to do with a rap They want to keep you out of your office, out of their officers. Understand something. I'm talking to you from the nineteen eighty nine time on up to right now because I'm in those offices and every time you try to bring a wrapper up in there's like, oh ship. When I worked at Motown, the only rap artists we had was Queen Lachief and that was too hard for him. Yeah,

that was too hard. I brought a rap group, the rap group I told you about called Watch Car. I brought them to Motown to Gerald Buzzby says Stan I love, I love this group, but man, we're owned by Boston Ventures and all our money comes from there. We they will not tolerate this type of language, or at I love you, but you got to go elsewhere. Well, nobody was signing. Then you go to the phase of they

didn't want to sign you. Now it got regional. The A and R directors didn't want to sign anybody from the West coast. Nobody, James, you could you can get of me a hundred thousand dollars. Back then as they stand, can you shop this West coast? At can you shop MC eight for me? Man I couldn't get m to deal if he was just starting out, and at that time New York was giving out the money. M hmm. Nobody was signing anything from the West coast. Norman nobody.

You know that Norm was dealing with the same thing. I would say, why aren't you signing something from the West coast? You know what they told me? This was even the radio programmers. They said, stand, you know what's wrong with West Coast artists? I said, what's that? He said, It's like Christmas time when everybody all we all know what's in the package. It's just wrapped up. It ain't nothing different. It's not that we disliked the West Coast.

It's like we don't want to hear about what's going on in south central Compton and Watts at that time, they didn't. They just didn't. It was all centralized in Los Angeles. So to get your record played anywhere east of the Mississippi, I forget it. You know what Clyde Davis told me about Quick? I asked for some more money to promote Quit. He called me directly and he said, Mr Shepherd, I want you to talk to my promotion director.

I talked to his promotion director, and the promotion director told me point blank, we are not giving you one penny more then what we gave you when we first did the deal. Now, if you want to market DJ Quick east of the Mississippi, then you do that with your money, but you're not gonna get it for from aristom. We promote you on the West coast. Now what does that do to you as an artist? What the death do with Qrick? What does that do to Quick? Point

or limits the amount of money you're gonna make? And remember this norm you work in publishing, right, you have a history doing that. You must understand when you're trying to get a record released, then you have to have everything working properly at that time or you're going to fail. Everything has to work with every aspect of what you're doing. So now I'm trying to find out, well, how are we gonna break some West Coast artists east of the Mississippi.

And my people call back and sistan, it's never going to happen. There are no West Coast artists played in Chicago except Kendrick Lamar. You may hear him once a month on a record, but any other artists other than Kendrick and you may get a feature like with a y G on a record and they played in Chicago or somewhere, but nobody played in the West coast east in Mississippi. So your money is your money is cut in half. So I would always tell the West Coast artists, man,

don't talk about your hoods. It's a turn off to these programmers. They don't want to play it. But things changed, as they do in American record business, and then now we's switched back over to the West coast because why because you've got a whole lot of new young people that are coming into this game, not black folks, Hispanic white and Asian black by hardcore hip hop, not black folks, very very few. What are you going to tell somebody from the hood about the hood when they're living it

every day. But the white kids across the world want to hear everybody else wants to hear it. So that's where your sales come from. So that's why these record companies and our directors say, hey, you gotta I'm fast forward. You got any your crimes on your sheet? You with a game, because that's the only way you're getting signed right now. You ain't getting signed. If you've got uplifting lyrics,

you ain't getting signed. If you're doing that, you're getting signed if you as they asked me, oh Stan, you got a new artist that you're launching. What side is he from? What side is he from us? He g ds he Black Disciples, Blood crypt Pararu? What is it? I said? That makes the big difference? Now, okay, no problem, no problem. I see where you're going, what you're doing. It's a pattern of ignorance. You can't turn on the radio right now and hear anything but gang involved in

the drug dealer, that's all. And you know, standing me and you talk about this all the time. This is that's going back to the um prison industrial complex, the privatization of prison. Um. You know, some of the biggest stockholders in these companies are Universe over VINDI and these major corporations. So it gets really deep. It gets really deep. You know, even if you go back to the stuff that you know Benny Medina was doing. You know, I'm gonna go too far into it, you know, but they

finally starting up. You know, it's a little lot of stuff going on, man, And it's I'll just say this, as my Italian friends friends told me, as I was talking about to you, stand put about put about forty into black acts. And I'm looking to remember, I'm listening to everything these people say because they're the outsiders. They're gonna tell you the truth. They don't need nothing from it, okay. And they said every black act, listen to me, every

black act will eventually turn on their management everyone. So now you've got a situation where say all three of you guys form a label. You got this artist we promoted. How much do you know that you're supposed to get paid? You don't know, you don't know anything. You don't know anything other than what you're told, and you were just from that. The second thing is this, when I hear no disrespect to anybody when I say this, this is

two artists. When I hear artists say that they own their masters and they own this and they owned that. Take it home with you if you own it. When Shefford Lane was around, that was the most cracking label in the West Coast that time. You know, before the death row are pop, y'all Haven point three that you know, y'all it was the hot crew in the streets right here right Yes? What made you decide to just say it was enough? Did you get tired of the urban scene?

You know? What it was is that it was the deaths every time that was and James and eight can detested this and nor might know you were hearing it, but we were living it. It was like when Vincent got killed, when James's brother got killed, All of these people got killed. They were dropping on both sides. I was on this. I was in the area when in Compton at south Side when Venus and serena sister was killed,

we heard the shots. Okay, so it's a situation where how could I say this, Um, it's I just felt it was gonna be me next because I was getting death threats. I remember the crips even came to kill me and DJ Quick at a funeral MHM in Inglewood. I remember when that happened because Crawford was with you guys too, whitn't He high Sea was walking with me

into the church where the young lady was killed. That was dating quick and they pulled up to me and Crawford and they thought Crawford high See was quick and when they saw it wasn't, they moved a little bit to the side, and then other cars were coming through, and so everybody in the church was running out. There was gunfire everywhere, and it got so close to me that I had to I had to redirect my life. And after eighteen murders, I got paranoid. I was completely paranoid.

Every time I would leave anywhere. It destroyed everything in my life because I couldn't be the same person that I was because the level that we were playing with the Compton Cripts and the Compton part rules were not playing. These people will kill you and it doesn't take much to get you clipped. Not in this world, as I told you norm yesterday, I have people that have come to me with five hundred dollars to ask me for five d dollars to kill somebody that I was having

a problem with. And when I found out that five hundred dollars could get your ass killed, I became so worried. I said, who did I make mad? Because understand something. I wouldn't let people get to DJ quick. I wouldn't let people get the battle cap. And people hated that they felt of his halting their career. So yes, I left because I was panic stricken and I they want to die. That may sound whatever way you want to say, but when the heavy gangsters being mowed down around me, no, no,

I wasn't ready. I wasn't here, And like you said, there was some heavy weights. And that's what people don't understand. It don't matter who you are any man, any man can be tuxed, and they don't have respect for motherfucker out here. They really don't. And you East Coast and down South artists and Midwest artists when you come out here, when you come, excuse me, when you come to l A, please understand two things have happened before you got there.

At all the hotels they have they been the gang members that have already put their women in there as the maids they know where you're staying. They know when you give a false name. These women have been working there for a while. And some of the door people who you think are dressed properly and just there for a job, they're connected and they will call, Hey, you know who just came in here? Who l A is the I'll say this l A and believe me, I'm in Chicago. Ain't nothing you can tell me about game

bang And I'm dealing with this every day. But there's there's something different about Compton. There's something different about Compton watching l A. It's more planned, it's more evil. In Chicago, it's random. Most of the time, it's random. But when when Compton puts a mark on you, bro youth, you've got problems. Yeah, so staying I wanna I want to. I want to end up the day with a question? Right? Uh huh? Where do we go from here? In the

music industry is all independence now? Nope? Because you know why, because independent artists will sell out all from the right money. Most will sell out. Who's gonna turn down a couple of million dollars If you've got fifty thousand in the bank and now you got paid notes and everything who's gonna turn that down? Not many people, mm hmm, not not many people. It's like even my own labor. I said, you come here, you split publishing on the first album, and what we will do for you what we did

for Sugar Free and everybody. We give you three thousand to pay your monthly bills and give a thousand to you for food. Now take this hundred and twenty five thousand and do your help. Who's gonna turn that down? I would do it if you're gonna tell me right now. Hey, Stan, if I'm an artist, uh dr Dre and Quick and battle Cat are gonna produce your help. But you've gotta split some publish. But you can have your publishing for the rest of your life. Just on this first album.

You're gonna be established, a start, and now you can do whatever you want to do. I signed that deal in a minute. Not a bad deal. It's what are you going to get from a major, just like what eight was doing. Eight may have got maybe thirteen fourteen points for his deal. Maybe if they liked his attorney, maybe fifteen or sixteen. But just like he said, you're gonna get forty five to fifty cents per album, and you're gonna be broke. That's why the artists I work

with right now, let me tell you something. I gotta and I'm educating these young men. My artist daut of Chicago, E S C D S and the Cartel. I educate these young men. They're gonna be huge. My guy from Kelly Park, Yellow Boy the Duke, he's gonna be huge. I got two other artists, Almighty Wand and Dolf Rosa. We're gonna break these people and we're going to help them establish themselves and go from there. And we're gonna help people. I'm helping people like like the Hood doctor

Melli Mel he's doing his the Hood professor. I help all these people. Anybody that wants some assistance that are not ignorant, come hilder this man. We we we don't want ignorance around us. We really don't. Man. And and the people I'm working with right now, man, I'm I'm I'm I'm good man, I'm good, And I ask you one more. Hopefully I'm not putting you in the spot stancause you know, I can't talk about everything that we talked about. It ain't for everybody else. It's ears, but

you had an incident one day. You know, we were talking about the code a little bit earlier, and you said that you have an experience that freaked you out. One time. You actually walked in on the things they here going on one time. Yeah. Well, first of all, I'll be very short their satanism in this business. And we happened to be one time coming from the location and we went to a just a smoke, a few joints whatever. We went to Malibu Beach and some partners.

When we got there, I heard some music that I was familiar with, but it was coming from under what do you call that, uh, the where you walk out to the water where you do fishing at the at the pier or whatever. They walk in and I heard this music that had been played in my office before. And then when I looked up, it was about twenty five people under this appeared and they were all button naked, and they saw men and women weightlifters, and they saw me and my people, and they rushed us. Twenty to

twive butt naked people doing satanism. And the people were involved in the record industry. I said, oh my god, this is what is going on. Then I was representing another guy from over in South Central and he's riding with me, and I said, hey, man, I gotta stop by the church. But he said, what said about the church for what? And I said, well, he was a person who I want to do my thing over there for a second, you're just waiting the card. He said, Man, funk God. I said what he said? You heard me?

Fuck God? I said, okay, no problem. And I knew from that point on that Satanism and anti God was rampant on that West Coast music scene. These people will kill you. It's like a brotherhood. I don't care about nothing else for Satanism. I'll just leave it at that. That podcast word